title: Expression of VGluT1 and VGAT mRNAs in human dorsolateral prefrontal cortex during development and in schizophrenia.
abstract: A balance between excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmission is important in normal brain function, and in schizophrenia a deficit in γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA)ergic inhibitory neurotransmission has been indicated by postmortem studies. We examined the ratio of excitatory to inhibitory vesicular neurotransmitter transporter mRNAs (VGluT1 to VGAT) and their ratio in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex during normal human development and in people with schizophrenia and controls by quantitative RT-PCR. The ratio of VGluT1/VGAT increased gradually in development to reach a peak at school age (5-12 years), after which levels remained fairly constant into adulthood. The VGluT1 mRNA/VGAT mRNA ratio was unchanged in schizophrenia, as was the ratio of complexin 2 mRNA to complexin 1 mRNA (related to synaptic vesicle fusion in excitatory and inhibitory terminals, respectively). This suggests that the excitatory/inhibitory balance is attained prior to adolescence and is maintained across the rest of the life-span and also indicates that in schizophrenia this balance is not greatly disturbed.
authors.affiliation: Schizophrenia Research Institute, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Samantha J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Fung
authors.forename: Maree J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Webster
authors.forename: Cynthia Shannon
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Weickert
authors.forename: Cynthia Shannon
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Weicker
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000378:metabolism*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D050598:Vesicular Glutamate Transport Protein 1 / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D050495:Vesicular Inhibitory Amino Acid Transport Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D012333:RNA, Messenger; C493464:SLC17A7 protein, human; C492245:SLC32A1 protein, human; D050598:Vesicular Glutamate Transport Protein 1; D050495:Vesicular Inhibitory Amino Acid Transport Proteins